Sunday, March 08, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - It was a banner day at Johns Sessions Stadium as Dolphin head coach Terry Alexander earned his 600th career victory while JU wrapped up the SunTrust River City Rumble title with an 8-7 win over UNF, Sunday afternoon.

JU (6-5, 2-1), which took home the Old Wooden Barrel by an 11-3 tally, scored six runs in the third and two runs in the sixth to take the opening A-Sun series for both schools.

UNF (5-8, 1-2) rallied from an 8-2 deficit by scoring five runs in the seventh but left 12 runners on base in the contest.

“This was a great weekend series of baseball,” said Alexander, who is in his 19th season as head coach at JU. “Every game was a hard fought battle and I have the upmost respect for Dusty Rhodes and his program. I think this is a series that the city of Jacksonville can get behind and be proud of.

“To reach 600 wins is a tribute to having good players in your program. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the alumni of this program and guys who are playing for me now. They are the ones who have made this achievement possible.”

Junior Glenn Witkowski (1-0) notched his first win after allowing two runs on eights hits with a walk and two strikeouts in six innings. Sophomore Matt Tomshaw and senior Joey Wedner combined for 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Sophomore Chris Kaminski notched his second save after hurling a perfect ninth.

John Atteo (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.